Siberia
by Flekkr
Summary: Short storys about being cold, being in blizzards and other snowy things.
1. Snowfall

Siberia - Short Story One - Snowfall  
Central Character - Sniper  
Word Count - 723

* * *

Charles Snippy could not remember the last time he had felt so cold.

Sitting upon that roof with the snow cascading down, the concrete beneath his rear numbing him to the core even though layers of fabric. That night was cold, colder than most he had been through. Watching out into the wasteland for people who were not there, enemies who were nothing but the delusions of a shattered and troubled mind.

The captain, eccentric even at the best of times, worried the snow vampire would be out to get them that night, based off a simple fret the Pilot had held over a small scratch on the side of Photoshop, something she had done to her self rolling over the day before.

Adjusting his position, Sniper held his gun tighter to him self, a thick layer of snow starting to coat his jacket, fogs of white air bellowing out from his respirator with every shivered breath. They were further North than usual, having been traveling relentless trying to out run the Acidic rain that had started to fall further South. But now it was to cold, never a happy medium at the end of the world it seemed.

Rubbing his hands together the marksman attempted to warm them, but the friction was no match for the weather, it did nothing against the bitter wind that swept past and caught under his hood at that moment. This was stupid, he should have been inside, where the others were, Photoshop and her great mass blocking up that little room on the first floor of the building no one could have gotten in.

But the Sniper did not think he could handle another night of the Captain, standing over him as he slept, like always, watching, looming like some sort of psychopathic childish statue that only moved when you were not watching it.

Snippy tensed upon hearing the sound of footsteps in the snow behind him, the door to the building, the one that lead back in from the roof had been propped open. He shook him self to dislodge that snow that had gathered on his coat, glancing over at his shoulder at the Engineer who stopped in his tracks once spotted, like a rabbit snagged in the glow of headlights.

"You should come inside, before you freeze to death." The words held a bit a stutter to them, whether from cold or fear Sniper could not tell.

"I'm fine." Stubborn, refusing Sniper would not go back in now, not now he had been told to by the Engineer, perhaps if it was captain, with such never ending persistence that it drove the sniper in he may have gone...but no...it was the Engineer, the one who had only shown up recently.

It was with a caution and a reluctance then that Engie stepped closer to him, wordlessly throwing a blanket over the marksman with a huff, like he had known the Sniper would refuse to go back inside.

A steaming cup was also placed down beside him melting into a patch of snow, before the Engineer started to make a retreat back into the building. The Sniper observed the thermal plastic container for a moment or so waiting for it to do something other than sit there before he reached for it and pulled down his respirator, the cold air stung his lips and caught with a tingle in his nose now, but the Captain did have the only non radioactive straw.

Sniper shifted so he had his rifle resting against him, held up in the crook of his arm while he nursed the drink in his hands. It smelt like hot chocolate, something, Sniper assumed the Engineer had brought out from that bunker he often spoke of returning to, even though he never actually did.

It had been such a long time since Sniper had drank such a thing however and he gave a mumbled thanks even though the Engineer was already gone, back down to a fire the marksman now suspected they had below, how else could he have boiled water for that drink...Lucky them.

Savoring the taste he sipped the hot chocolate, a feeling of warmth sweeping over him and he huddled further under his blanket as he kept on with his watch and all through the night the snow continued to fall.


	2. Snowflakes

Siberia - Short Story Two - Snowflakes  
Central Character - Lifealope  
Word Count - 405

* * *

Hopping, skipping, rolling...A small feline like critter flitted around in the snow.

Happy, near dancing as it pranced to catch the flakes between little paws, its dark antlers a large contrast against its pale fur and green tints. Little sprigs of grass and other plants springing up from where ever its paws had stepped.

The Lifealope was playing, embracing the full nature of the cat who's form it was assuming, playful, excitable, loving. There was so much to investigate, so much to see and do and smell.

Smell in particular, the Lifealope stopped to deeply in hail the air, it could smell the last scents of what ever travelled through, that little group of survivors it liked had passed through a few days before before the life giving creature had.

That was when it noticed it, a mound of snow not to far off, that moved on occasion and rose up and down. Curious but cautious, the Lifealope crept towards it, reaching out with one paw to bat away some of the white powder that was upon the mound, something was actually alive under there and it unfurled and lifted its head.

A mouth full of teeth opened in a yawn and many eyes looked down upon the Lifealope, who tilted its head and meowed with a smile.

Lifealope had seen this worm before, it usually travelled with that little group of survivors, a pet to the bug eyed green one, though why it was out here alone now was of no real concern to the feline, who just wanted to play in the snow.

Photoshop stared at the odd white animal a few moments more, before turning her head towards the north, she had been sleeping for a long time, longer than she should have been, recovering from a wound on her side, now they had gone on with out her and she did not know how long ago that had been.

Giving off a rumbled sound that could only be described as a gwarh, the worm set off at a fast crawl intending to search out some food, ignoring the feline as it meowed again..

Shaking the snow from its fur the Lifealope watched the worm leave, before dashing after it, putting aside its plans to play, cold weather was always so much more bearable when you were in it with friends and this worm the Lifealope had decided, was indeed a friend.


	3. Bleak

Siberia - Short Story Three - Bleak  
Central Character - Engineer  
Word Count - 761  
Written a while ago, some facts might now conflict with the canon verse.

* * *

To say that Alexander Gromov liked the snow would be a lie.

In fact he more than disliked it, he hated it, hated how it tended to settle everywhere it was unwanted, on the blankets, on the food supply..on that little radio he was trying to fix that hissed and sputtered in protest of the white flakes and refused to work once again.

He had been so close, yet so far from finding out if there were other survivors in the zones outside of the madness of captain, that man-child pilot and the one percentage Sniper. So close to discovering some other sane company, but apparently Sevens luck did not cover the fixing of radios.

With a sigh Gromov lent back on the old rickety chair to stare up at the holes in the roof of the bungalow they were calling base for now. The damned little flakes of white still drifting down through them, settling on the orange of his goggles before he wiped it away and pushed back from the table, the legs of the old chair scraping across the floor.

The sound had disturbed the Sniper from sleep, who was leaning against one of the walls across the room in a sort of semi uncomfortable looking slump, rifle across his lap in case he needed it. He raised his head, blue lenses meeting orange before he gave a snorted agitated sound and folded his arms, settling down to sleep again as Engie past him.

The windows that looked out into a small yard from the conservatory the Engineer had walked from the other room to were dirty, smudged and cracked with time. The snow was piled up half way to the roof on the outside and what looked like a car wreck had taken down the yards fence at some point...a car wreck caused by the bombs most likely.

Alexander reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he stared out through orange tints and muddy glass into the garden, even through the rubber of the gasmask the move is still felt, comforting in a way, a habit to deal with a threatening to start pressure headache.

Headache caused by the stresses, the strains of everything on his mind, the fact that from a technical angle, this was all his fault.

A heavy guilt to live with, a large burden to bear like atlas with the world upon his shoulders, all the regret, the perfect machine, his ANNET that he had been so careful to create and then been unable to stop the monster she had become when Subject Seven had dumped the tea on the servers.

Engie glanced around then, where was the Captain anyway, he had not seen him in a while, the bungalow base had turned oddly silent a few hours ago, apart from the occasional scratching sound of the Pilot drawing in another room. With out the Captain and his luck there the group were ever so venerable, just sitting ducks for any monster who happened to slither past in the frozen night.

The night was so bleak beyond the bungalow, the wind picking up, the snow fall that had once been light turning to a blizzard in only a matter of moments. The cold air seeping in the cracks of the old conservatory caused Gromov to shiver, rub his hands together for some sort of slight warmth, the new chill was only adding to the numbness his fingers had already felt.

Turning from the windows then he headed back into the old living room, the Sniper was deep sleeping once again but this time the Pilot had apparently joined them, likely slunk in silently..he had settled upon an old broken sofa, a sofa the Sniper had passed up sleeping on due to the unknown stains that peppered the fabric.

Grabbing a blanket from on top of a pile of food cans the Engineer shook it to rid it of the snow that had collected upon it from the holes in the roof, before sitting back down in the old rickety chair, located at the table with the radio he was officially giving up working on. The device clattered to the floor as he kicked it off the table, resting his feet up on the surface as he tried to get somewhat comfortable.

A slight glow of purple illuminated the room as Engie finally slipped off into dreamless sleep, the Captain was apparently back, looming in a door way and watching them as they slept through the rest of the frozen night.


End file.
